"I won't be sad if Brazil lose tomorrow," said Tiago Petrik, a Brazilian walking near the Westfalenstadion in Dortmund yesterday. He was wearing a red-and-black Flamengo shirt with the No10 on the back, exactly as Zico did when he was at the Rio club. "And that's because of the Galinho," he added, using the affectionate nickname for Zico, the Rooster.

Like Petrik, a 32-year-old fan, many Brazilians will have split loyaties when their national team take on Japan tonight. Flamengo are Brazil's most popular club and Zico their all-time legend. Many Brazilians, in fact, will be supporting a Japanese victory; in Rio the Zico-inspired Fla-Japan fan club has reportedly sold 1,000 T-shirts.

This World Cup is Zico's fifth. He took part three times as a player - he is Brazil's fourth-highest all-time goalscorer - once as Brazil's assistant manager, and this year he is Japan's coach. On his debut, in 1978, he headed a goal from a corner but the Welsh referee Clive Thomas controversially whistled for full-time when the ball was still in the air.

In retrospect that was something of an omen, because Zico has been plagued in World Cups by bad luck. He is probably the greatest Brazilian player of the modern era never to have won the trophy. In 1998 he was the coach Mario Zagallo's No2 and the team lost in the final. And he must have wondered what the gods had against him when Japan were drawn against Brazil.

"We are not fighting a monster," he said, reminding observers that Japan drew 2-2 with Brazil in the Confederations Cup last year. "Brazil are a great side, but Japan also has its professionals and we cannot give up hope while there there is still a chance [to qualify for the second round]." He also pointed out that in 1998 Brazil lost their third game, against Norway.

Zico has long had to suffer criticism that he failed on the greatest stage. In 1982, alongside Socrates and Falcao, he was part of the team considered the best national side since the 1970 World Cup winners. Yet Brazil were knocked out by Italy in the second stage. Four years later he was chosen despite injury. He missed a penalty in normal time in the quarter-final against France, who beat Brazil in a shoot-out after the game finished 1-1. Romario described him as a "loser". "He was world champion with us," counters Petrik, referring to Flamengo's victory over Liverpool in the 1981 World Club Cup.

Zico played for Flamengo from 1971 to 1990, scoring 568 goals in 765 games, with only a brief interruption at Udinese in Italy. He was one of the first players to finish his career in Japan, where he was hugely influential in the growth of the J-League. After retiring as a player from Kashima Antlers he was appointed technical director, working with a head coach. The first time he was made coach of any team was in 2002, when he took over the Japan job from the Frenchman Philippe Troussier. Many Japanese fans were concerned by his lack of experience but he won them over with a qualifying campaign in which Japan lost only once.

Brazilians have seen hardly any Japan games and are unsure what to make of Zico as a coach. He was, however, lambasted this week in the press as a "crybaby" after moaning that Japan's first two games were at 3pm. "It is criminal to play at this time. Have you ever seen an electric fan at a football pitch? Well, they gave us one for our bench. What were the criteria for deciding when Japan would play? Other teams with little clout like Serbia & Montenegro and Togo also played at this time and are out of the cup."

When asked how he felt about facing Brazil he said: "It will be a very special game for me because of my 10 years playing for the national team. But ever since I took this job I knew it could happen. It's just a shame my team is in such an uncomfortable position."

He denied there had been any contact between him and Brazil's coach Carlos Alberto Parreira. There is, however a joke going around the Brazil fans that he did indeed call Parreira to ask for help. "Brazil are already through, Japan aren't. Can you give us a hand?" he asked. "OK, Zico, what do you want - that we play our reserves?" said Parreira. Zico, in shock: "No, please, not the reserves . . ." Either way, the most likely outcome for Zico is yet another unhappy end to a World Cup.